Amazing Grace

May 13, 2023

Mothers Day is tomorrow. Yup, just like everyone else I’m thinking of my mother.

Her name was Grace, but my mom was not especially graceful. She was a little heavy, what she liked to call “big-boned.” I inherited her heavy step.

She took great care of her four kids. We had freedom, but a solid anchor no matter where our freedom took us. We could roam the woods or neighborhood, but she always had our lunch ready on time. She expected us to be there.

Mom didn’t drive, so I had to ride my bike to Little League and Boy Scouts. (Dad worked long hours.). She never went to any of my ball games, but I didn’t mind. She never saw my victories or my blunders, which was fine with me.

As a teen, I thought my mother was dumb. After all, I was the smartest boy in my class, and she dropped out of school in the eighth grade. I guess I was a bit naïve.

Mom had a determination about her that rubbed off on us kids, I’m not sure how. She learned to drive by recruiting Emmeline (famous for listening in on party-line calls) to ride with her. Mom got her driver’s license on the thirteenth try at age thirty-nine. She also began guitar lessons in her mid-fifties. I’ve learned to think of her now as “Amazing Grace.”

When she finally got her license, Mom was always available as a “taxi” for her friends. There is a fine line between being available and being taken advantage of, but she erred on the side of love.

Without transportation, Mom didn’t attend church for years, but she kept attached to God, her lifelong friend. Denomination was not a necessary criterion when she finally got her license. She was Baptist, Methodist, and finally Presbyterian.

She’s been gone sixteen years. I agree with whoever said, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

"Honor your father and your mother, that you may live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving to you.” Exodus 20:12